


Golden Buzzer

by VigilantePond



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, america's got talent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2018-12-22 21:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11975259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VigilantePond/pseuds/VigilantePond
Summary: Mantis is a competitor on America's Got Talent, and the judges Nebula, Drax, Peter, and Gamora all have to sort out their mixed feelings for her.





	1. Auditions

**Author's Note:**

> Some quotes are directly from the movie and belong to writer James Gunn :)

“And the next contestant has a very special talent! Everybody give it up for Mantis!” the host, Yondu Udonta roared. 

The audience and the  judges Drax, Peter Quill, Gamora, and Nebula applauded in anticipation. Nebula was particularly eager to finally have someone besides a singer perform. Frankly, she grew tired of all those mediocre singers and their sob stories. To her, nobody’s sob story was as bad as her and Thanos’ virulent relationship. 

Mantis shuffled onto the stage stiffly with wide black eyes and smiled awkwardly at the audience; actually it looked more like a grimace than a smile. The girl was dressed head to toe in green like her namesake insect, and cowered like a bug under the spotlight. There were plenty of unique people on the show, including the judges, but Nebula couldn’t take her eyes off of this girl for some reason.

“What’s your name?” Gamora asked. 

Gamora was a famous stunt performer and rose to fame quickly, hence being invited to be a judge this season. She’d dragged her sister Nebula along when the fourth initial judge Ronan backed out, and the network needed someone immediately. 

“I am Mantis,” she answered slowly. The odd smile did not leave her face. 

“What are you doing?” Drax tried to imitate her smile. 

“I am smiling. I hear it is what you do to make people like you,” Mantis replied. 

Peter Quill burst out laughing, “You’re hilarious! What will you be doing for us today? Stand-up comedy?” 

Peter Quill was the fan-favourite judge. He had been a professional dancer since the age of 12, and he was a huge music enthusiast. According to himself, his “rugged good looks” and quirky personality were the reason why he had so many fans. 

“No, I am an empath. When I touch someone, I can feel their feelings,” Mantis explained. 

Nebula snickered and thought to herself,  _ This is probably another phony with terrible rigged actors and everyone pretends to be shocked _ . Although, there had never been an empath on this show before and she was mildly interested in seeing what she could do. 

“For my first act, I would like Peter Quill to come up and help me.”

He jogged onto the stage gleefully and did a couple of twirls to top it off. Peter extended his arm for the girl and she carefully placed her palm on his hand; the rest of the judges and the audience held their breath. 

“I feel… love,” Mantis announced. 

The audience collectively gasped, and Gamora frowned, as she usually did when she wasn’t sure what direction an act was going to take. Peculiar things always happened when judges were asked to be part of the demonstration. 

“ Yeah, I guess - Yeah, I feel a general unselfish love for everyone,” Peter shrugged.

Mantis was far from finished. “No.. romantic love.  _ Sexual  _ love…” 

Dramatic as always, the audience let out another gasp and were on the edges of their seats. 

“...For her!” Mantis pointed straight at Gamora, where she sat, speechless. 

Drax, on the other hand, erupted into thunderous roars of laughter. “She just revealed your biggest secret! You must be so embarrassed!” 

“No, no! Dude, stop it!” Peter stormed off the stage and tossed his Dunkin Donuts beverage in Drax’s face. 

“Do me next! Do me!” Drax cheered. 

Gamora hit her buzzer without hesitation, signaling the dreaded noise and the big crimson X to light up. Nebula would normally have buzzed this horrible act, but she hated agreeing with her sister Gamora on anything- especially on America’s Got Talent. As a result, Mantis was in luck today. 

Yondu appeared on stage again, and it was time for the celebrity judges to vote. 

“Let’s start with Drax!”

Drax laughed again. “YES! Absolutely.”

“Gamora?”

“It’s a no from me.”

“Peter?”

“Look, I have mixed feelings about this. I mean, you just exposed me to all of America!” Peter began, “But, I think your talent is very cool and original so I’m going to say yes!” 

“Nebula?”

“Yes,” she said gruffly. 

It was a known fact that Nebula was incredibly difficult to impress, and it seemed unlikely that she would say “Yes”. Nonetheless, Mantis would make it through to the next round. 

“Thank you! Thank you very much!” Mantis exclaimed. 

With that, Yondu declared a commercial break and Gamora promptly exited the theatre. 


	2. Judge Cuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Special guest Zardu Hasselfrau joins the judge panel for this round of AGT, and Mantis demonstrates her powers of putting people to sleep.

Since Mantis’ auditions, Gamora and Peter’s friendship remained relatively the same. They knew that they had some sort of unspoken thing going on, but neither of them did anything about it. Luckily, America’s Got Talent served as a distraction from them. It was finally time for Judge Cuts 1, and tonight’s guest judge was Zardu Hasselfrau, a famous singer. Zardu was actually one of Peter’s idols growing up, and he secretly still had a crush on him. He was effortlessly youthful and cracked jokes with everyone around him despite his super stardom. 

“For our first act, we’re going to have Mantis. I think we all remember her unique talent from the auditions. Everyone give it up for Mantis!” Yondu announced. 

Gamora straightened up in her seat and avoided looking at Peter Quill. Thankfully, Zardu sat in between them and created a forceful wedge. The media probably wanted to dig at a reaction from her this time; when Gamora gave Mantis the X during Auditions, every entertainment news outlet and gossip blog started brewing up ridiculous claims about her and Peter.  _ “Gamora is furious at AGT contestant Mantis!” “Peter Quill’s Secret Crush on Gamora - Exposed!” “Does Gamora Have Beef With This AGT Contestant?”  _ It was just absurd. 

Mantis sauntered onto the stage with her hands clasped, and her chin lowered. This time, she wore a green and black leather jumpsuit, with intricate cross stitches and matching sleeves. During the commercial break, Mantis was playing with Cosmo the dog from the popular dog trick contestant. Nebula sat back and watched the girl with fascination and astonishment; never in the entire galaxy had she seen anyone so pure and innocent; it was both sickening but amusing at the same time. Mantis’ antennae lit up along with the rest of her face when she saw the dog, and it made Nebula think of  _ before _ . There was a time when Nebula had the same innocence that Mantis carried, believe it or not. Thanks to Thanos, she had lost all of the humanity and hope that she once had. Doing America’s Got Talent was also Gamora’s idea of helping her heal and become human again, but Nebula wasn’t sure about how bad singing and fake magic could do the job. 

“My empathic talents can also make people fall asleep. So, I need a volunteer from the audience to help me with my demonstration,” Mantis said.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure a lot of  acts on this show can make people fall asleep… if you know what I mean,” Peter Quill leaned into the microphone. Zardu, Drax, and the audience cracked up. 

An overweight middle aged man named Ego with a salt and pepper beard was selected to be her assistant. “I have insomnia, so this is going to be tough,” he chuckled. 

Mantis sat the man down on a plastic chair, and hovered over his forehead with a flat palm. She set it gingerly on his frontal lobe as her antennae straightened and glowed in a warm yellow colour. Promptly, the man’s eyes fluttered shut and his head plummeted to the side like a weight dropping. An earthquake of snores quickly followed, and the audience clapped with disbelief. 

Soon, it was time for the judges to vote and Yondu had to slap Ego awake to get him off the stage. 

“Drax, what do you think?” Yondu asked. 

“I think that’s  _ awesome! _ I need to borrow you some time,” Drax laughed. 

“Peter?”

“Last time I was a little on the fence with you, but you stepped it up this time and I can’t wait to see what you have to offer,” Peter answered. 

“Gamora.”

“Yes,” she said. 

Her blank facial expression gave no tell of what she was thinking. In reality, she didn’t want to stir any drama with her and Quill’s relationship. Plus, people would probably get tired of her act soon and Gamora wouldn’t have to do the eliminating. 

“Nebula.”

Nebula glared at Gamora quickly, and hit her buzzer. “No.” 

_ Ugh. Why did Gamora have to say yes?  _ Nebula wanted to say yes, but was far too stubborn to be agreeing with Gamora on television. Nebula was cold-hearted, and everyone knew that, so there was no shock when she unapologetically slammed her cybernetic hand on the red button. She watched as Mantis’ large black eyes droop, but Nebula did nothing. 

“And our guest… Zardu, what do you think?”

“Now, in all my years of watching America’s Got Talent, I have NEVER seen anything like this! I know it’s very early in the round and I haven’t seen any other acts but…” Zardu shot up from his seat and pounded his fist on the Golden Buzzer in one swift motion. 

Gold confetti showered down from the sky like snowflakes, landing softly on the stage and on everyone’s heads. In the middle of it all was Mantis, jumping up and down with gleeful tears streaming down her face and glowing antennae. She looked like an angel amidst the fluttering halcyon background. Nebula hated the golden buzzer, because it created a mess, and not the right kind of mess. This was too happy, and she brushed off the decorations with annoyance. Plus, watching Mantis’ reaction made her heart race and her stomach squirmed; Nebula decided that it was probably because she was grossed out. Soon, Zardu Hasselfrau joined Mantis on the stage and gave her a congratulatory hug. 

“Oh my gosh, thank you Zardu! Thank you so much everybody!” she giggled. 

Backstage, the other contestants began to panic. There was one less spot in the next round, and everyone’s confidence just sank lower into the pit.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's funny cause David Hasselhoff (Zardu Hasselfrau) was actually a judge on America's Got Talent for many years.


	3. Live Shows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone tries to make a move on Mantis. Meanwhile, she demonstrates her pyrokinesis skills

Mantis didn’t need to use her powers to know that everyone in this room right now was absolutely terrified. Sure, there were a few people with their chins up and shoulders back, but these were the  _ live shows _ . Anything could happen on live television, and two acts had technical difficulties last week. Tonight she would be displaying her pyrokinesis powers, where she would control fire with her mind. 

“Hey Mantis. Can you try out your powers on me?” asked Kraglin Obfonteri, lead dancer of a dance crew called The Ravagers. 

The contestants were hanging out backstage and waiting to perform. Mantis usually kept to herself and didn’t know how to talk to the other people. Nonetheless, it was probably good to try making friends. She grabbed Kraglin’s arms and let the senses surge from his body to hers, like a stream of electricity. 

“I feel worry, nervousness, and-” 

Suddenly, she noticed Kraglin’s scruffy face leaning closer and closer. Mantis yelped and shuffled backwards. 

“What are you doing?” she cried. 

Kraglin stuttered and grasped for words, but he turned away and mumbled an apology instead. 

“I’m not into your type!” Mantis confessed. 

“What, Ravagers?” Kraglin frowned. 

“No,  _ men _ ,” Mantis grimaced. 

“Oh,” Kraglin shrugged. “Okay. Fair enough, I guess. Well, I can't wait to see your performance. Break a leg!”

Her jaw dropped. “You want me to break my legs?” 

“No no, it means  _ good luck _ on your performance, but it’s bad luck to say good luck, so … yeah,” he stammered.

Mantis nodded slowly. “Ohh, I see. Then I hope you break your legs too,” she smiled sincerely. 

Finally, it was her turn. The Dolby Theatre was enormous, and there were blinding lights shooting from every corner. If the lights didn’t make her anxious, then the vast sea of people in the audience must have done the job. Mantis had never seen this many people in one place before, and certainly not with her as their centre of attention. For the live shows, they had decorated her stage with glowing embers and a crimson curtain set ablaze with faux flames. To prevent being too cliché, she stuck to her forest green outfit; she looked like a pine tree engulfed by a forest fire. 

She fixed her gaze towards Nebula, and hoped that she could get approval from her this time. She would do her best on this performance to gain the likes of Nebula, because she was Mantis’ favourite judge. Mantis thought that Drax was funny, Peter was nice, Gamora was beautiful and inspirational, but Nebula was special for her. It was no secret that Nebula had a bitter outlook towards life, but Mantis believed that she could change that. She decided that her ultimate goal was to make Nebula smile; not an evil grin or a coy smirk, but a warm and genuine smile. Maybe they could even be friends.

“Hello, Mantis. What will you be doing for us today?” Gamora asked. 

“I will be controlling a fire with pyrokinesis,” she replied. 

First, she curled her palm into a fist and shut her eyes to focus all her mental energy into directing a flame. Her antennae lit up as it usually did when she used her powers. A flicker appeared in her palm, and it began to dance and waver back and forth. While bringing her hands together, she began morphing the flame with her mind and bent the inferno into the shape of a tiny sequoia. 

“It’s a baby tree!” Peter commented. 

Then, the warm blaze shifted into a ball which she shaped into an arch. Mantis brought the arch above her head, like a raging red rainbow. The audience and the judges gasped; their eyes were wide open with both awe and horror. In an instant, she was able to extinguish it all with just her mind and left a small trail of smoke sifting through her fingers. Drax, Peter, and even Gamora sprang up from their seats and applauded loudly. Mantis was honoured, but she couldn’t help but look at Nebula who was still in her seat. Her stomach sank and feared that she had disappointed Nebula once again. 

“Wow, this girl is certainly on fire!” Yondu whistled, as he appeared from behind the curtains. “Alright judges, what do you think? Drax?”

“I think you’re amazing I mean, I thought you were hideous at first-” 

The audience booed.

“I’m not finished yet! I thought you were hideous at first, but I think you’re amazing.”

“Peter.”

“This is exactly what this show is all about, you know? Unique talents that can’t be found anywhere else. That’s why you gotta vote, America. It’s up to you at home to vote for her. I’m rooting for you Mantis, okay? Everybody, got vote on the website, on the AGT app-” 

“Gamora.”

“Well this is why I love this show so much, this performance was excellent. I didn’t like you at first but I think I will fight for you too.” she turned and gave Peter a quick smile.

“Nebula.”

“Fire. That’s what everybody does when they attempt to step up their act. Singer? Singing with fire. Dancer? Dancing with fire. It’s so unoriginal,” Nebula replied in her husky voice. 

Again, the audience booed. Mantis’ heart was beating faster than the speed of a freight train.

“I… guess you didn’t fail,” Nebula concluded. 

That, in Nebula-terms, was basically a compliment. 

“Thank you!” Mantis squealed. 

She beamed proudly at the audience and the judges, then quickly joined the others backstage. With Nebula’s semi-approval, Mantis was almost certain that she would make it to the semi-finals. Then, maybe she could finally make Nebula smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read on Wikipedia that pyrokinesis was one of Mantis' powers in the comics, so yeah.


	4. Semi-Finals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ayesha sabotages her fellow contestant Mantis, and an unexpected hero saves the day.

The judge cuts were a close call for Mantis. Landing in fifth place, she was in danger of being eliminated, but luckily the Terrans in America voted for her in the Dunkin Save. The singer Ayesha had also been in the Dunkin Saves, and the judges ultimately ended up choosing her. Now, Mantis was one step closer to winning this competition, and one step closer to making Nebula happy. 

After an exhausting round of press interviews, Mantis went backstage to recollect herself. The other contestants were all good friends at this point, but Mantis was still having a difficult time socializing. She saw Ayesha sitting alone in her makeup chair with her chin held high and perfect posture, staring in the mirror -- perhaps she was admiring her own reflection. Her gold complexion radiated like the sun, and she carried an aura that no one else in the galaxy could ever imitate. They nicknamed her ‘High Priestess’ for a reason. Ever so fascinated with beautiful women, she wandered over to talk to her. 

“Hello. I am Mantis,” she articulated carefully. “Let’s be friends.” 

Ayesha glanced away from her reflection and studied Mantis’ awkward smile. Initially, she narrowed her eyes at Mantis for intruding. Then, as if a light bulb went off in her head, her lip curled and she curtly reciprocated a smile. 

“Hello, dear. How are you?”

“I am fine, thank you. And you?” Mantis replied, recalling her recent lessons on manners.

“Could you do me a favour?” Ayesha grinned slyly.  

Mantis nodded eagerly, and followed Ayesha’s elegant and dainty steps all the way to the corridor near the judges’ dressing rooms. There was a small storage room at the end, and the door’s archway was the same height as Mantis’ antennae. 

“One of my rings has fallen inside, but I’m afraid the room is far too small for me; would you mind grabbing it for me?” Ayesha asked, her voice sickenly sweet.  

“Of course!” Mantis piped up. 

Without question, she ducked inside the closet and began to search for Ayesha’s ring. Suddenly, she heard the wooden door creak shut, and she was engulfed by darkness. Mantis gasped and rattled the doorknob; then, she pounded on the door, hollering Ayesha’s name. Naive as she was, she didn’t know that her new friend had just purposely locked her inside. To Ayesha, everyone was competition and she would use every dirty tactic in order to win. Mantis’ antennae glowed faintly, but there was not much for her to see. The crowded, musty room was filled with broken broomsticks and toilet paper rolls wrapped in cobwebs. It made her chest fill up with tremor, and she crouched down in a corner to prevent herself from shaking. Because she was anxious, it was harder to focus and harness her pyrokinetic powers. She closed her eyes and channeled all her energy towards creating a single spark, or even a flicker. At that moment, she thought she would die in that storage room. 

\----

Meanwhile backstage, the crew members were frantic. People were running in circles, clutching onto flying paperwork, and trying not to knock over the cameras and microphones. 

“Two minutes, people. Two minutes! Where is she?” someone called out. 

“Has anybody seen Mantis?” Yondu asked the other contestants. Everyone shook their heads with bewilderment. 

“Find her rehearsal tape and play it instead!” 

“One minute.. Yondu, get it under control.” 

Yondu Udonta stepped out in place of the empath, and tried to tell some jokes to stall time at first. Mantis was still nowhere to be found, and the judges began to sense that something was wrong. “Okay, everyone. Looks like we have some technical difficulties, so uh.. We’ll be right back after this commercial break!” 

Down at the judges’ panel, Drax, Peter, and Gamora were confused. “Do you think something’s wrong?” Gamora whispered. 

Nebula rolled her eyes and stood up. “I’m going to take a bathroom break.” 

\-----

“No toilet paper? Are you kidding me? Pathetic,” Nebula grumbled to herself. 

She tried to call for some crew members to get her some toilet paper, but there was not a soul in sight. Apparently everyone had gone elsewhere in search of Mantis. Nebula yanked the supply room door open aggressively, and out tumbled numerous rolls of toilet paper, and… Mantis. 

\-----

Mantis yelped as the door suddenly swung open, and the stacks of toilet paper came crashing down on her head. She was lying on the ground, face to face with a very familiar pair of dusty red boots. 

“Nebula?” 

Nebula’s eyes were as wide as Mantis’ usually were, and her expressionless face was gawking at the girl at her feet. 

“You saved my life, thank you” Mantis leapt up and immediately embraced the blue cyborg. There were faint trails of tears on her face. 

“Um.. you’re welcome?” Nebula muttered. She stood stiffly like a telephone pole; Mantis would not let her go. Nebula was definitely not the hugging type, and Gamora’s hugs always made her slightly uncomfortable, even though she tried really hard to appreciate them. She looked down at the antennaed-girl nestled up against her, and clumsily pat her on the back. In that moment, Nebula was the empath. Deep in her metallic body, she could sense that this was a unique feeling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School got in the way and I couldn't update. Anyways, I'm sad that season 12 of AGT is over but I'm happy Darci Lynne won.


	5. Finals

By some miracle, Mantis made it into the finals with her rehearsal tape of her mentalism act. She decided that karma was probably real, since Ayesha experienced technical difficulties and had to sing acapella. Little did she know, karma came in the form of a blue and purple cyborg named Nebula. After learning about how she had tricked Mantis, Nebula threatened some producers and managed to get Ayesha's background tracks deleted. 

“It’s the finals, baby! This is IT! Someone’s going home with a million bucks and it’s up to you to VOTE!” Yondu shouted. 

The audience cheered on command as the judges entered down the walkway. Nebula appeared last as usual, but she’d picked up her pace and was not trudging as she usually did. 

“Are you okay? You look… happy,” Gamora eyed her sister suspiciously. 

Nebula promptly put a scowl on her face. “Just thinking about murder.” 

Gamora rolled her eyes and took her seat next to Peter. 

The first finalist was some mediocre singer named Meredith that no one really paid attention to all season, but somehow made it into the finals because she had a brain tumour and everyone felt sorry for her. She sang  _ Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)  _ by Looking Glass, and the minute she opened her mouth it was as if angels descended from the sky. Every note flowed with emotion and grace, with pitch-perfect accuracy to tell the sailor’s story. She received standing ovations from both Gamora and Peter; the two exchanged teary-eyed glances, as if that song made them both feel some sort of connection. 

“Wow that was… really beautiful. Very t-touching,” Peter stammered. 

Gamora nodded, “It’s going to be a tough competition.” 

The Ravagers dance crew was next, and they carried out a decent messy, yet synchronized performance that was not particularly better than any of their last rehearsals. It was the best they could do since they had a last minute song choice problem and had to learn new choreography in 2 days. Next, the fan-favourite Cosmo the Space Dog performed a full routine with his usual tricks, but with a jungle theme. The audience always loved dog acts, but the judges were more impressed with Rocket Raccoon, a trained raccoon slash comedian. His jokes were on the brink of offensive sometimes, but that didn’t stop Rocket. The biggest contender was Howard the piano-playing duck; he had a pretty big chance of winning, but it was anyone’s game. Finally, it was Mantis’ turn. 

“Saved the best for last,” Nebula muttered under her breath. 

“What did you say?” Gamora asked. 

“I said  _ save me from this boring show, it won’t last _ ,” she snapped. 

Mantis opted for a different outfit this time -- a strapless green and yellow dress with a choppy grass skirt. The shy and cowering girl from the auditions was replaced by this bold and confident talent, with the stage presence of a professional performer. 

“Today, I’m going to perform mentalism on a cat!” She announced. 

Mantis revealed an orange tabby from a box and placed three bowls, each with different colours and a piece of paper inside. She had written her predictions on the board behind her; first she felt the cat’s emotions and thoughts with her palm, and closed her eyes. 

“Blue bowl… 7 jellybeans… 3 green, 2 red and… 2 white,” she said, and repeated it as the cat slowly crawled towards the blue bowl. 

Sure enough, it picked out 7 jellybeans from with its paw, with the correct amount from each colour that Mantis listed previously. For her big revelation, she yanked the cloth off the board and her predictions were all correct. The judges clapped, but the performance fell short for them considering all the other competitions and her previous acts. Nebula caught Mantis’ glance for a second, and gave her a coy smile while giving her a menacing glare. It was the most  _ smiley  _ she could get. 

The night after was the results, but Mantis didn’t care about winning or losing anymore. She didn’t end up making it into the Top 10, but she made Nebula smile and in many ways, she had already won. Just as everyone predicted, Howard the piano-playing Duck ended up winning, with Rocket Raccoon finishing in second place, and Cosmo the dog in third. Gold confetti rained down on the stage as everyone gathered to congratulate Howard. Nebula stood off to one side as usual, clapping bitterly while Yondu and the other judges took endless photographs with everyone. 

“Hi Nebula,” Mantis shouted amidst everyone’s cheering. 

“Hello,” Nebula replied bluntly. The contestants never made conversation with her before.

Without saying anything, Mantis leapt into a hug and she would not let go of the cyborg. The last time Mantis randomly hugged Nebula, she didn’t know what to do with her limbs. This time, she reciprocated and wrapped her arms around the other girl. 

“Congratulations. You did well, I wanted you to win,” Nebula confessed. 

Mantis squealed loudly, “Thank you! You know what? I practically did.”


End file.
